Singing Love Songs
by cartoonromancer
Summary: Mostly a Lancitty fic, but it features a few of the other couples both X-Men AND Brotherhood. Each chapter is a different song that fits with the plot and mood. It starts with Lance confessing his feelings, and where it goes from there...Enjoy!
1. I'll Be, Lancitty

**A/N: My first Lancitty/Evo fanfiction! This is the best Evo couple in EXISTANCE! So here's a tribute to them especially, and some of my other favorite Evo couples like Rahne/Roberto, Bobby/Jubilee, Amara/Sam, Tabitiero, Romy, and maybe along the way I'll pair X-23 with someone. So it's basically my tribute to X-men Evolution. This chapter's song is I'll be by Edwin McCain. I do not own that song and I do not own X-Men Evolution. I hope you enjoy the fluff and the first chapter of my little X-Men Evolution Couples chronicles.**

"Ok, all of you guys...OUT!" Lance yelled, his brown bangs bounced against his forehead as he directed the command to the odd bunch that were scattered in the back of the Jeep. Pietro, in the passenger seat, stood up in the car with his hands on his hips, glaring at Lance solidly through sea-blue eyes.

"Why? Cause of your pretty-kitty-cat? Noooo way I'm walking home just so you can take her for a drive, noooo way conpadre!" his words paled on his thin lips as the ground began to shake subtley.

"Really?" Lance asked, threatening Pietro with his determined voice. Pietro knew exactly what Lance was capable of when it came to the small, brunette, Kitty-cat of the Xmen team.

"Umm...well, you know, I don't know about you guys, but I'll be home in a minute flat anyway. So..." with that attempt to compose himself, he leaped from the raggedy jeep and sped off to the shabby Brotherhood's two story home.

Wanda stood up from her seat and growled at Lance, who felt himself shrink in his seat, and his fearlessness wear off. He wouldn't pick a fight with Wanda ideally, but today was the one opportunity he might have to drive Kitty home, and to get her to really, affirm him as...her boyfriend. He looked back up at Wanda but instead of seeing her angry face again, ready for another argument, her eyes calmed down. They were the same blue as her twin, and although her sea used to be stormy, it was now more mellow and calm. She smiled at Lance instead.

"Good luck with the X-girl, she really...isn't that bad." she struggled to find the correct words to describe the happy, passionate, girl that she had formed a slight friendship with.

She opened the door of the jeep and let herself out, her trench coat flapping behind her. She looked back at Lance before adjusting her book bag and walking in the direction of the Brotherhood household. Toad looked at her confused before looking at Lance and patting him on the back. He winked before hopping off the Jeep and leaping to catch up to Wanda. Lance now leaned back in his seat and looked back at Fred who was cautiously making his way out of the jeep's backside.

"Look, umm, Lance, I hope you and Kitty live happily ever after and everything..." he then waddled towards a nearby diner, drawn in by the lunchtime smells and the afterschool bustle. Lance breathed a sigh of relief as he put the jeep in reverse and eased it back into the school parking lot. He heard the gravel underneath the wheels and scanned the school yard, to see if she was still there. Sure enough, he saw Kitty sitting on the steps of the school, talking to Kurt. He was suddenly uneasy of just asking her if he could give her a ride home. He looked around the lot for the X-Jeep or Summer's sports car, sure enough, there they were, pulling up to the front of the school, to Kurt and Kitty. Jean and Summer's were driving both vehicles, as they offered to pick up the willing X-kids from high school every day now that they were in college and seemed to have endless amounts of free-time on them at times. He crossed his fingers, hoping his plan would work. As soon as he started giving up hope, he saw Rouge and the other X-girls emerge from the building, each towing a boy on their arm. Kitty looked surprised, she hadn't even moved from her spot next to Kurt the whole time.

"Woah, woah" Jean exclaimed as she saw the people that were all trying to cram into the X-Jeep at the same time.

"There's no way everyone can fit" Scott added from his bright red sports car.

"well," Rouge started, scanning the parking lot for Lance's telltale army-green Jeep.

"how about Kitty ask Lance for a ride home? Then ah'm sure we could all squeeze into the car with one less person."

"Why Kitty?" Scott demanded, his eyes burning red behind his shades.

"Woah, calm down big boy," Tabitha waltzed over to Summer's car.

"We're only trying to start the beginning of love between those two, so please play along." she leaned closer to him on the last part.

"No way! Kitty come on! I'll take you home" he yelled, but not before Kurt had grabbed the girl closest to him, (Rouge) and teleported into the car alongside Scott. Tabitha sat down on Kurt's lap and looked at Scott triumphantly.

"Sorry Kitty, no room" she shrugged.

Kitty turned her head back to the X-Jeep, but all the seats were taken by the new mutants-Ray, Amara, Jubilee, Bobby, Jamie, Rahne, and Roberto- and X-23 (or Lo as she chose to name herself) in the passenger seat next to Jean.

"Sorry Kitty, no room" they all chorused, even Jean chimed in as she got the information from an eager Amara. Scott growled angrily as he pulled away from the parking lot. He honked loudly at Lance before easing onto the main road.

Jean passed by Lance's jeep and gave a friendly honk to the nervous boy leaning on the door.

'Good Luck' they all waved at him.

Turns out that Lance had made a surprise call to Rouge, to ask for some science homework, and ended up asking her for a plan to get alone time with her room-mate, Kitty. Amara and Jubilee, who were passing by, heard snippers of the conversation before entering the room, leaping on the bed, and intervening mercilessly. Rahne, who also passed by with a blushing Roberto stopped to wonder at the little crowd at Rouge's bed. After Jubilee had filled them in, she had suggested the scheme at the parking lot- force Kitty to accept a ride from Lance- and every girl, except Rouge, found it completely romantic. Roberto had scratched his head in confusion at their idea, which to him, made absolutely no sense. But in the end, he convinced the other boys to play along and the next day, they left Kitty in the dust, on the steps of school.

As Lance approached the angry brunette, he heard her angry outbursts.

"Ohhhh that Jamie! The one day he's visiting the school and gets a ride home! And that Bobby! Like, since when does he ever ride home with us? How could they just leave me here? I am SO gonna get Kurt for this" She stamped her foot to the ground before proceeding on foot towards the X-mansion. Lance skipped after her and grabbed her wrist gently, turning her to face him.

"Oh, Lance! You really were here, I was like, wondering what they were talking about."

Lance smiled broadly and happily. She cocked her head to the side.

"I have no idea, what just, like happened. So, I'm gonna go home now, I'll give them hell when I get there."

Lance snapped out of his fantasy and blurted out,

"Kitty Pryde, can I take you home?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, drive you...to the X-mansion, you know? And, because, it's Friday you know...maybe...maybe, we can hang out for a bit, before..." his voice trailed off as he looked in her crisp, powerful eyes, that he saw, were a shining, bright, endless river of blue. He was hypnotized, and felt himself blush.

The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful

Stop me and steal my breath.

"Lance? Are you ok?" she smiled at his lost look, and the warmth visible in his large brown eyes. She looked at the clear sky for a second and then away from him.

"I would...really like to hang out" she said finally, finding herself blushing and smiling back at him. He leaped in the air and smiled from ear to ear. She laughed.

"Hey, only because I'm on foot" she declared, teasing him.

"Of course, of course" he said, looking back into her eyes, knowing that she really didn't mean it. He meant something to her, he hoped.

And emeralds from mountains thrust toward the sky

Never revealing their depth.

He led her to the abandoned jeep and bounded in front of her to open her door for her.

"Lance, who does that anymore?" she giggled as she sat down in the ripped leather seat.

"Obviously I do" he smiled. He started on the road and went in the oppisite direction of the X-Mansion. Kitty was a little frazzled but she shook it off,

'I mean, we are going to hang out' she reasoned.

"So, Lance, like what happened to Pietro," he eyed her as she said the white-haired mutant's name first.

"Wanda, Toad, and Freddy and stuff?" she continued.

"Oh, they all decided to walk home today." he lied.

"Really? Wow, never would have expected that from them." she smiled though and let the air breeze through her hair, her ponytail waved in the wind behind her. Lance turned on the radio as he watched her, wishing he could lean over and undo her ponytail. He had never seen her without her traditional ponytail.

Tell me that we belong together,

Dress it up with the trappings of love.

I'll be captivated,

I'll hang from your lips,

Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above.

He sang softly to the song on the radio, stealing glances at Kitty occasionally.

"What song is this?" she said, concentrating on the melody that serenaded her ears.

"Ummm, I'll be, by Edwin McCain. It's one of my favorites, I listen to it...a lot." He did listen to it a lot, it was the perfect song for him and Kitty he had decided.

"You have a nice voice" Kitty mused, as she closed her eyes and listened to Lance's voice mixing with the solid voice coming from the radio. He smiled softly at her. She liked the song, 'Thank you, Mr. McCain' he thought.

Lance continued on the road for a bit before snapping a sharp left into the woods.

"Lance!" Kitty's eyes fluttered open as she saw the tall, brown tree trunks fly past them.

"Just a tiny bit more Kitty. Don't worry, I wouldn't hurt you" he tried to comfort her while he gripped the wheel tightly in his clenched hands, his eyes narrowing on the thin dirt path before them. They finally cleared the trees and they found themselves on a ledge.

"You can open your pretty eyes now Kitty." he announced quietly, although a little more confident that they were alone now.

She opened one eye and then the other, her long lashes batting to reveal her sparkling blue eyes that now focused themselves on the smiling boy beside her.

"First," she breathed, "tell me when we're about to like, completely go off the road to God knows where! And second," she smiled, holding up two fingers, "where is this place?"

"I just found it one day. I needed some time by myself and...I found the path up there. There's a lot of these little look-out ledges in Bayville, but this one's my favorite." he explained, barely. She nodded and saw around her, signs of his presence. A fallen tree, breaks in the dirt, piles of rocks toppled on one another, she scanned the area silently.

"Do you come here when you're angry?"

"Not really, I mostly come here, when I'm...sad." he said simply, not wanting to go into further details. The truth was, he found this place the first day he got to Bayville. He was alone, wandering, and thinking about Kitty a lot. He never really made friends, and he certainly never got too close to him, but with Kitty, not all of their relationship had been him wanting her to steal for him...she understood him, tolerated him...

He sighed out loud and looked at Kitty, who was watching him silently the past few minutes.

She looked like she was going to talk to him but instead she stepped out of the Jeep. He scrambled after her, afraid she was going to leave him before he had even confessed to her. She didn't really move away though, she looked up towards the trees instead. They were a bit lopsided, but on one of the branches was a nest, in which a single bird resided. It was brown and plain, but it chirped a long string of notes, which they both listened to in silence. After the bird had stopped, they turned awkwardly to each other.

"Kitty?"

"Yeah Lance?" she said softly.

"I...what do you think of me?" he said instead.

"I think...you're incredibly brave," her voice broke a bit.

"Really? How?" he tried prying in.

"Do you remember that day when you pushed me out of the way of that statue?"

"Do I? I even have the scars to prove it!" Kitty laughed until he lifted his shirt to show her a thin line that ran from his shoulder to the middle of his chest.

"Oh my God Lance, I didn't...I'm sorry" she started tearing up, gasping at the sight. He pulled his shirt down. He hadn't been trying to scare her or anything, he was just showing her…

"Oh no, no, Kitty, it's fine. They're worth it. Every time I save your behind and get a little token to remind myself of it, then it's a reminder that I managed to keep you safe. It doesn't matter, as long as you're safe." He stood behind her awkwardly, not sure if that was a confession or not. She did stop crying though and she moved towards him.

"Thanks Lance." she smiled through dampened eyes.

"Is that the only thing though? That I've saved your life a ton?"

"Well, -ceit-ed! Fishing for compliments here?" He shrugged jokingly, glad that she was feeling better.

"No, that's not the only thing. You've got a sense of right and wrong, you're funny, caring, protective...basically the type of guy that some girls would love to have at their sides all the time."

"Are you one of those girls?" he hoped.

"Maybe...but...I'm still bothered about your many attempts at suicide for me. Why?"

"Look, Kitty. It's not that complicated. I love you, and if something happened to you, I wouldn't be able to go on. I'll be there for you every time I can. If you ever need help, I'll never leave you. Even that fight against Apocalypse, leaving you at the front door was nagging me the entire time. I knew, I needed to be there, with you." he ran his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry, I just made this extremely awkward...agh...please, forget I ever said that." he groaned and turned to go back to the Jeep.

"But I don't wanna forget it. That was like, totally sweet!" she grinned at him.

"You mean...you...love me back?"

She blushed. "Yea..." she whispered, giggling again.

"Kitty Pryde, would you do the honor of being my girlfriend, now that the war between the Brotherhood and the X-men is basically over?" he knelt on one knee in mock proposal, looking up at her.

She didn't respond, just buried herself in his chest, his broad shoulders enveloping her. He smelled like hard work, car grease, and a slight tint of cologne. He breathed in deeply, grabbing the scent of shampoo from her. He couldn't help smiling widely.

"Lance?"

"Yea?"

"Will you sing me that song again?"

"Which? I'll be?"

"Yea, the one we heard on the way over here."

"Yea, that's the one." He took a deep breath and sang into her ear.

I'll be, your crying shoulder,

I'll be, love's suicide,

I'll be better when I'm older,

I'll be, the greatest fan of your life.

"And I mean every word that I'm singing Kitty." He paused.

"Gosh Lance, you are such a softie." she pushed him slightly as she made her way to the Jeep.

"Hey, where ya going?" he called after her.

"Ummm, Lance, if you don't take me back soon, Scott's gonna unleash Wolverine to find us." She pointed at the fading sky, and the stars that were becoming visible. They had only been on the ledge for an hour or two, but thanks to Fall, everything got a whole lot darker so much sooner.

"WOAH! When you put it that way!" he rushed into the Jeep and started the engine in three seconds flat. Kitty laughed again.

"Lance," she put her hand on his hardened arms.

"I'm really glad you're driving me home today." she leaned over the seat and kissed him breifly on the lips.

He turned a spectacular shade of pink and backed the car up into the woods, the Earth shaking the tiniest bit as they drove off.

"My first kiss" he whispered to the wind as he looked over to Kitty who was smiling, her eyes wide and bright. He reached over with one hand and undid her ponytail, loosening it with his callused fingers. She looked surprised as her hair went flying back in the air. She nudged Lance but closed her eyes and let the wind mess her brown wave of hair.

**A/N: Hi, it's me again, yes, that was my first chapter. Let's see what I'm gonna do with the next, probably more Lancitty. I really hope it's not toooooo cliché, like I know it is. But when you try to do something unique for a couple that has millions of fanfictions, it can be hard, but I try to get some inspiration from songs. Hey, any opinions on some songs I should use would be awesome! **** Till next time.**


	2. Graves

**A/N: Second Installment of the X-men Chronicles **** This is just me being me…and writing this in ten minutes. Oh, and I so wanted to have an IM convo between the two, so there it is. Enjoy, hope it's better than my first chapter (crosses fingers).**

KittyKatLover: Hey Lance you there?

Loudrthnwords: Yea, I just got on, Pietro was hogging the computer and IMing billions of girls at the same time.

KittyKatLover: Isn't he going out with Tabby tho?

Loudrthnwords: Would that stop him?

KittyKatLover: No, I guess not.

Loudrthnwords: It's Pietro, nothing to worry about, so wassup?

KittyKatLover: Nothing, homework and Kurt is SO VERY ANNOYING SO CAN HE PLEASE KINDLY STOP TRYING TO READ MY IMZ!

KittyKatLover: Sorry, it didn't work, but it was worth a try. What are you doing tomorrow?

Loudrthnwords: I'm going to be away. Sorry we can't hang out though

KittyKatLover: Where ya going?

Loudrthnwords: Somewhere...look Kitty, I got to go, I think Wanda wants to use the computer (gulps) I'll see you tomorrow at school.

KittyKatLover: Yea, sure.

Loudrthnwords: I'll make it up to you, promise. 3 Love you! :)

KittyKatLover: (rolls eyes) love you too

(Loudrthnwords has signed off)

Kitty looked at the remaining people on her buddy list. No one she really felt like talking to. She signed off and headed up the stairs to her bedroom. Rouge was sitting on the bed reading a thick, small, book by Stephen King. Kitty shuddered as she thought of the one novel she had read by him. She was more the teen novel person...not the horror, bloody, mystery person Rouge seemed to be. Rouge was texting someone on her chunky black cellphone. Her purple nails blurred over the cold keys. Kitty rolled onto the bed next to her and looked up at her expectantly.

"What's up Kitty?"

"Nothing, I'm just like...totally bored!"

"It's ten o'clock; shouldn't you be IMing or finishing your homework or something?"

"I finished my homework a few minutes ago, and there's like, no one good online."

"Really? No Lance? What a shame."

Kitty feigned anger but kept next to Rouge, watching her read.

"Sweetheart, you're creeping me out."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Who're you texting?"

"Remy...and Wanda." Rouge added to cover up the former name.

"Wanda?"

"Yeah, Lance is all over the computer she says, and Remy is just being the little sweet talker that he tries to be."

Kitty signed into her IM account from her cell. Lance wasn't on. She groaned and signed off.

"Mai oh mai, the honeymoon stage will never cease with you two."

"Rouge, if you don't stop, I'm totally gonna keep you up all night by watching some shojo anime. What's that one you really didn't like? Mermaid-"

"Fine fine, I'll stop! You got me!" she laughed and nudged Kitty playfully.

Lance sat hunched over the only computer in the Brotherhood house with reliable internet. It was a pain to share with the rest of the household, but they could use the library if anything. He looked at bus routes and times. He checked how much money it would cost. He was planning a trip for a special day. As he worked over the computer, he also typed a short note.

_"Dear Mom and Dad,_

_It's Lance, and it's been 10 years since you guys were in that accident. It's been a decade, maybe I should do something extra-special this year? Well, maybe I'll think of something on the way over. Everyone at the brotherhood is ok. Pietro is still as annoying as he was a year ago, but he's my best friend now, so I guess that's something I have to expect. Toad and Fred are still here and I guess we're all doing better than last year. Someone new came, her name's Wanda, and she was a little...angry at first, like me, but she's pretty normal now, like me. Magneto has taken us all in like a father...well...he is Pietro and Wanda's father (they're twins but they look NOTHING alike). We're all ok here, and my family is just...we're all together and I feel like maybe this one will be the permanent one. I'll be 18 next year, finally an adult, and I'll graduate from high school, and maybe even college, though I don't know how excited I am for that, with all the work I have to do just to graduate high school. So much has happened this year, too much to write down, but I think the best thing is that, I'm finally with this girl named Kitty Pryde. Did I talk about her last year? I probably did. well, if you met her, I think you would have liked her. Even though I don't remember a whole bunch about you, I remember being a lot happier with you guys than some of the homes I've been in. Well, just reporting in, every year, like you told me at your death bed, mom. I miss you two. Rest in peace, and in heaven. _

-Lance

**A/N: So yea, the next day will be at school and Lance goes and visits his parents, with a few stowaways? Poor kid (hugs Lance). Oh and I love Mermaid Melody, no offense intended there. I OWN NOTHING OF THIS! MARVEL DOES! Oh, and this one was a little shorter than usual, so no songfic here, next chapter though…I'm thinking Bon Jovi.**


	3. Who says you can't go home, Lancitty

**A/N: Well…here's the third chapter…sorry for the OC, I mean, she seriously came out of nowhere, but she's not going to be in there for more than this chapter, and I think she's not one of those horrific ones that take over the story. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution…WAAHHHH**

**I also do not own Who says you can't go home by Bon Jovi…it can be argued to be a love song. A love song for home, for family, and for life **** ENJOY!**

Lance swiveled his combination into his thick grey lock.

0-13-45

He sighed as his locker refused to open. After a few more fails, he banged his fist against the frail metal. He pushed his forehead to the cool, grey, material and whispered threateningly to it. After entering his combination again, it slid open. He smiled and grabbed his ratty brown book bag. He opened it and shoved some books into it, preparing for the weekend. Weighing it with one hand he also swung it around his broad, muscular shoulders. He then reached back into his locker and took out a smaller bag. It was filled with crackers, some peanut butter, and a few maps, as well as his letter to his parents. He made this trek every year, so he knew how hungry a person could get on the four hour bus ride to New Jersey. He then turned around to leave through the school's large double doors. All of a sudden, as he was about to leave, he spotted Kitty's bright eyes on him. He waved but kept on walking determinely to the bus stop. He could hear her breathing behind him and her short footsteps as she ran after him. He turned around to receive her. She looked up at him expectantly. He sighed and shifted his weight.

"Kitty,"

"Hey Lance! Where you going?"

"Nowhere Kitty. I mean...somewhere...but, not where you'd want to come alright?"

"Well how would you know if you don't tell me?"

"Listen Kitty, I've been trying to leave all day. I even considered skipping school for this. You really wouldn't even care, so just go home alright? I'll talk to you when I get back, maybe tomorrow." he kissed her cheek and as he saw her moving forward, defying him, he held her wrist and kept her there.

**I spent 20 years trying to get out of this place**

**I was looking for something I couldn't replace**

"I'll be back, but I wouldn't want to waste your time. It's just something I have to do, something, very important, but it has nothing to do with you, so go home." He then turned around and left his very sad kitty behind him.

**I was runnin' away from the only thing I've ever known**

She turned around and dragged her feet back to school. He leaned against the bus stop and waited for the bus to come. He took out his small pack and took out his letter, reading it over and over again, even though he had already memorized it. Kitty fought back tears as she bumped into a solid mass. Kurt's holoemitter had been switched off and she found herself staring into Kurt's steamy yellow eyes.

"Kurt!" she brightened.

"Oh no, Katchzen, what on the Earth do you vant from me?" he groaned.

"We gotta follow Lance!" she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him towards the bus stop. He crashed into everything on the way as he tried to follow the bounding girl.

**And like a blind dog without a bone**

"Kitty! Slow down!"

"No way! If we miss that bus, then we'll lose him!"

They saw the bus coming, it was one of those long-distance buses, that would tower over cars on the highway, and had a dirty bathroom at the very back.

"Kurt! Get us on that bus!"

He held her hand and then rolled his eyes as they both disappeared into a cloud of grey smoke. The bus driver swerved on the wheel as she saw the two teenagers appear at her side. The huge red bus was now blocking the entire road.

"What! How!"

Kitty dug into her wallet and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

"Does that cover the trip for both of us?" The bus driver swished her thick brown, curly head of hair from her purple eyes and fingered her hoop earrings.

**I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone**

"It'll do" she grabbed the bill and the two teens headed to the very back of the bus, the driver eyeing them the entire way.

"Kurt, I'll duck under the seat, and you have to change your appearance. Something Lance wouldn't know!"

The bus was pulling into the stop now and she could see Lance getting his things ready. They were not the only people on the bus, but they would still be noticable. Kurt hit his emitter and suddenly, he was Toad's old program.

"Oh God!" he cried in his thick accent.

"Kitty you SO owe me!" he said before the doors slid open creakily and allowed Lance passage.

"Ms. Vi!" Lance cried as he rushed into the lady's awaiting arms. She held him tightly for a second before admiring him.

"My, you never cease growing do you my dear?" Lance shrugged shyly and sat down on the first seat on the bus. The bus, with it's large picture of a leprechaun and a rainbow plastered onto it's side, advertising: The Rainbow Trail Bus Service then closed it's squeaky doors and pulled out of the old bus stop.

**I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold**

**Who says you can't go home**

Kitty poked Kurt on his thigh.

"Kurt, we gotta move up!" she hissed.

"Kitty, vatever it is that ve are doing...like...STALKING your boyfriend...it's not attractive at all to a guy."

"I'm not stalking him!"

Kurt's right eyebrow raised in disapproval. He sighed and bamfed himself and Kitty forward a few seats. Lance's ears picked up the familiar sound and looked around the bus for a second. There was no one on but an old couple, a mother and her children, and a young, handsome blonde man who kept looking down at the seat next to him. Lance shrugged and went back to talking to the driver, filling her in on all the details of his life from the past year, from the Apocalypse to his latest math test. She just kept her eyes on the road, laughing occasionally, and examining him from the corner of her eye.

**Who says you can't go home  
There's only one place they call me one of their own**

**Just a hometown boy born a rolling stone  
Who says you can't go home**

Kitty's stomach rumbled after a while. The bus had emptied out and now they were on a long strech of highway, tall, thin trees blossoming with green fingers and rocks with streched, black, walls were the only scenery besides the expanse of sky that was turning a golden blue that happens right before sunset, as the sun gives off its warmest light. Kitty looked up at Kurt who rolled his eyes and from his backpack, produced two hamburgers, a few chocolate bars, a bottle of soda, and some assorted packages of candy.

"There goes my afternoon snack! I have to save up quite a bit of money for this kind of End-of-the-week feast Kitty!" Kitty giggled as she accepted a hamburger and a chocolate bar graciously. She then took out her telephone and started texting all the girls back at the mansion that were more than worried for both her and Kurt. Rahne gently hinted that she was supposed to stay faithful to Lance. Kitty spent the rest of the trip hunched in the seat next to Kurt, texting rapidly, her pink nail polish, a quiet blur as her fingertips made gentle clacks on her cell-phone's keyboard.

**Saving dimes, spending too much time on the telephone...**

Her ear's pricked up when she heard Lance's deep voice rumble something to the driver.

"Miss Vi, I'm going to turn eighteen this year."

"Do you think this will be the last time you take the bus?"

"Maybe. By then, I'll be an adult, maybe I'll be off to college or something. I do have my own car, but…I still like taking this bus…it's, very familiar." He looked around the tattered old bus.

"They never upgrade this thing do they?" he motioned to the duct tape holding quite a number of seats together.

"It may be a little worn out, but I've been driving this thing for 20 years, and she's just like a friend to me. I've practically lived in this bus for the last ten years! This feels more like home than my actual apartment." Her slightly wrinkled face crinkled as she smiled.

"I get to travel a lot, I see a lot of people, and really, being a bus driver from here to New Jersey really beats all of the other countries I've been to." Lance laughed in disbelief. Yes, she was crazy, but she had an air of wisdom that came from age.  
**Who says you can't go back been all around the world and as a matter of fact  
There's only one place left I wanna go**

The bus was almost empty now except for the odd young man.

"Hmm, he's quite handsome…but why on Earth is he wearing a ski-suit in the summer?" she shook her head and smiled, thinking of her past.

"Lance," she added as a side note,

"Don't live your life regretting it. I know a lot of people who lived like that and I'd hate for you to grow up to be like one of them. You see me?" she looked him right in the eye, his melted brown ones merging with her sharp purple ones.

"I've lived a long life, and I've done many things, I'm not proud of them all, but, I live knowing I've gotten here and I have done things I'm very proud of."

**I went as far as I could try'in to find a new face  
There isn't one of these lines that I would erase**

**I left a million miles of memories on that road  
**They then pulled into the parking lot of a small rest stop. The sudden swerve off the highway threw Kurt onto Kitty, muffling her whine of pain. Lance's ears pricked up again and he eyed the handsome man—the only one on the bus left.

**And every step I take I know that I'm not alone**

"Sorry my boy, you don't mind if we stop for a few minutes? These old bones need a rest!" Violetta asked the man, more told than asked actually, who replied in a soft German accent,

"Nien, Nien, take your time."

The old lady nodded her head and pulled the exotic key out and whirled it in her hands.

"Well, feel free to go out, we'll be back in thirty minutes." She added as she ushered Lance out of the bus, down the steep stairs.

"Close the door behind you!" she yelled from outside.

"Kitty," Kurt whispered, "it's safe Katzchen!"

Kitty growled at Kurt but dusted herself off and stretched her legs and arms until each joint produced a satisfying crack. She looked around and smiled,

"This is like, very cute!"

"Because the only view you've been granted for the last three hours vas my glorious thighs! I'm sick of the highway already!" Kurt then bamfed out of the bus angrily. Kitty followed Kurt, closing the heavy doors of the bus behind her. She ran into the cool air conditioned rest stop and stopped to take in the many smells. Some wafting in from the small fast-food section, some coming from the bathroom, and others coming from the new articles of clothing in a new-looking clothing stall. She saw a bright green scarf and squealed. She rushed to the cashier holding the flowing green scarf in her hand.

"Five dollars" said the uninterested boy. Kitty handed a crumpled bill to him and wrapped it around her neck smiling at the boy broadly. The boy smiled at her, color brushing his cheeks lightly.

She pranced to the food section, slipping on her old sunglasses before scanning the area for Kurt, who was munching on a pack of burgers at a table near Lance and Violetta.

When she reached the table he looked up.

"I love you too much Katzchen, so I might as well help you on your quest to be the vorld's most delusional, stalker girlfriend." He winked at her before biting nosily into his sandwich.

"Lance, wherever you go, you always seem to have friends. Who's the batch this year?"

Lance smiled, "Same batch as last year," he said fondly.

"All are mutants, but eh, I love them, they're family, I guess."

**You take the home from the boy but not the boy from his home**

"Any girl?" she asked slyly.

Lance truly turned a beautiful shade of pink, at which Kurt snickered.

"Man, Miss Vi, she's amazing, inside and out! Soft brown hair, sparkling blue eyes, pale skin, and she's adorable! What?" he asked at her curious expression.

"Is she short?"

"Compared to me and everyone else, yea, you can say that."

At this Kurt laughed loudly into his napkin while Kitty shot him a shaded death stare.

"Was she wearing a dark blue polo and some dark jeans?"

Lance stared at her.

"Miss Vi!" he said, leaning back in his chair, tilting it dangerously.

"With all your talk of being a gypsy, I never took you seriously! You're really psychic!" he said in disbelief.

"Well sweetheart, one, she came on the bus right before you did, with a fuzzy, blue, creature, appeared out of NOWHERE! And two, she's sitting behind us…" she said as Kitty whirled around. The ground shook dangerously.

"Lance!" Violetta scolded as Kurt's holoemitter shut off and Kitty's glasses slid off her face to the cold, dirty floor.

"KITTY! What are you doing here! Didn't I tell you to go home?" Lance demanded, yelling mercilessly at her.

"Well I wouldn't have to follow you if you would just TELL me where you're going."

"You don't have to always be in my business. You think you can just get away with everything with me! I hate that about you!"

Kitty's squared shoulders drooped and sagged.

"Lance..." she started,

"No, don't talk to me, I really don't care right now. You can't give me a second of peace can you? You and Kurt all the time! It's so annoying!" He growled before stalking off to the bus.

"He didn't mean that dear. It's just...he's always been a little loner, especially when it comes to today."

**These are my streets the only life I've ever known**

"I don't get it though. What's today?" Kurt butted in.

"It's the anniversary of his parent's deaths." Violetta said calmly.

"Oh." they said in unison, not imagining for a second this was the reason.

"I found him at the bus stop one day, and he was alone, lost, and he kept bumbling about how he wanted to see his parents again...he wasn't more than eight years old then. He hardly had enough for the way to his destination, and certainly, not enough to get back. I'm the only driver who drives this route, and I see him every year because of that. My children are all grown now though...even him, but the poor child is still as broken as when I got him." she sighed. "All he wants, is to truly belong somewhere. He didn't know his parents well, his family members abandoned him, his foster parents corrupted him...but he seems like he's in good hands now, and he just needs to realize his new home now." Violetta stopped her speech to take in the two teenagers that sat in front of her. Kitty was glassy-eyed, and Kurt was munching thoughtfully on a long, greasy, french fry.

**Doesn't matter where you are**

Kitty closed her eyes and imagined Lance, broken and lost. That wasn't what she thought of him at all. He was someone who liked to make her laugh, saved her in times of need at the risk of his own life, and he tried to seem strong and confident. She never saw him as anything else and she saw how wrong she was. She left Violetta and Kurt talking about food and walked carefully to the bus. She phased through the closed door and looked up and down the aisles. Lance was laying down on the back seats of the bus, his eyes were painfully closed together, and as Kitty silently padded her way through the long hall. He opened his eyes when she neared him and she saw that they were wet, tears were forming at the very ends and when he sat up, she saw them slide down his cheek and down his shirt. He looked away and wiped away the tears with his scratchy black gloves.

**Doesn't matter where you go**

"Hey Kitty" Kitty smiled and hugged him.

"Lance, today's the anniversary huh?"

"Miss Vi told you then. They died when I was seven, so I don't remember them well...but...it hurts. Drunk drivers...that's why whenever I catch Pietro or Toad eyeing the beers at the store, I give them a wallop on the head." He turned to Kitty and held her hands.  
"Kitty, I've been in a foster home since I was seven. At first, I got to live with family, I could live close to here, where my parents were buried-and I'd visit them everyday, by myself. But very soon, I ran out of family members who wanted to share the burden and I got switched to people I didn't know, farther and farther away. One day, I ran away from one of the really bad ones. I ran to that bus stop near school and waited for any bus to pick me up and take me to my parents. Essie's bus pulled up and she took me to see them, but, then she said I had to go back, to my new home." Lance hung his head.

"When all the good years were gone, no one really wanted me. One family took me in, but that was when my powers emmerged, and they hated me, they tried to kill me!." Kitty laid her head on his shoulder, hoping he wouldn't shake her off.

"I'm sorry Lance." she didn't know what else to say or do.

"Nah, it's my screwed up life, not yours. No matter how far I go, I'll never escape it."

"How far away are we from the graveyard?"

"We can walk there actually. Me and Ms. Vi made a tradition a few years ago though, that we'd stop here before she goes on." he smiled.

**If it's a million miles away  
or just a mile up the road**

"Ms. Vi was someone I only saw a few times a year, and yet for the longest time, she was my closest family." Kitty smiled and returned to hugging him

Suddenly, Kurt and the dazed lady appeared in front of them.

"Yo! Sorry for breaking up the mood, BUT, the professor is picking us up soon on the X-Jet. Wolverine's gonna be there...SO, I suggest we get a move onto the graveyard, because then they won't have to move very far to bury our bodies." Kitty rolled her eyes but looked at Lance pleadingly.

"Allright. Miss Vi, are you coming?"

"Lord knows I'm not comfortable in graveyards, I'll skip this year my dear."

"Then, let's go blue boy, Kitty-Cat."

The boy who had been crying only a few minutes ago, was now in a much happier mood, knowing that he had told Kitty something he rarely told anyone else.

**Take it in, take it with you when you go  
Who says you can't go home**

The trio walked, skipped, and pranced to the graveyard, which was in truth only five minutes away in a small recluse from the highway. They made their way through mazes of graves, Kurt crossing himself every five seconds and murmuring prayers under his breath.

"Here we are." Lance said, stopping the train of teenagers behind him.

There were two plain graves next to each other, which read simply.

"Adonia Alvers, August 1, 1976—June 2, 2001"

"Lèon Alvers, December 21, 1975—June 2, 2001"

"Lèon and Adonia?" Kurt asked.

**who says you can't go home  
it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright**

"My mom was Greek, my father was Dominican. She was 19 when she had me. As far as they knew, the Twin Towers were still standing, George Bush was still president, and the Yankees had won the World Series the last few years." he said simply.

Kurt stayed silent after that. Lance then kneeled in front of their graves and produced his letter from his pack. Kurt teleported somewhere for a second, sensing the moment, and left the two alone. Lance then started reading it, holding the paper tightly in his hands. When he got to the part about his new family he stopped and looked at Kitty.

"Kitty...this is my home...with you guys over there…"he then continued slowly, happy for his small epiphany.

**who says you can't go home  
it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright **

After five minutes, Kurt bamfed back with a handful of clean, fresh flowers.

"On the way over, I saw a whole patch of these lilies..." he offered them to Lance who rested them silently on the grave. They then heard the engines of a high powered jet.

"They're here." Kurt groaned as all three trudged to the door of the jet to take them back to Bayville. Lance laid the paper in a small box between the graves with other old, wrinkled papers, some in scrawled handwriting marked with tears, others with slashes and tears of anger, and some eloquent ones like this year's, where Lance had those moments, where he felt like home.

**Who says you can't go home!**

**A/N: This is most possibly…the worst songfic I've ever done, BUT(!) I kind of liked the story. Lance IS actually Greek, but to me, he seemed a bit Hispanic (being a Hispanic myself). I also couldn't help having Kurt in there (I'm in love with him, and I love the flirtatious/brotherly relationship he has with Kitty). And for those who aren't from New York—the Yankees won the World Series in 2000, the Twin Towers were still standing until September 11, 2001, and because this is modern times—George Bush ain't president no more. ;)  
**


	4. Melt,Lancitty

A/N: HEEHEE! Well this one was just fun, it's fluff and I'm happy with it. I'm thinking of doing Tonda next week. This is a songfic to Melt by Hatsune Miku! I love Vocaloid! So here it goes, lyrics in Japanese and English.

**KittyKatLover:** _FINALLY OFF PROBATION_

**Loudrthnwords**: _Lol, sorry about that_

**KittyKatLover**_: Nah, it was only this week, and only because Wolverine insisted I learn my lesson_

**Loudrthnwords:** _:) well, when I see you, I'll give you a big hug and kiss for taking that punishment so graciously. _

**KittyKatLover**: _And when are you going to see me, my good man?_

**Loudrthnwords**: _How about tomorrow afternoon? I'm sure I can think of a Kitty-worthy date by then. _

**KittyKatLover**_**:**__ YAY! I'll brb though, Jamie's going to confess his love for me ;P_

**Loudrthnwords**: _Yea, I Love you too_

**KittyKatLover:** _:)_

_(KittyKatLover is away)_

Lance leaned back in the chair. "Love you so much…"

**Melt- Hatsune Miku, X-Men Evolution Style**

Kitty's eyes fluttered open and locked themselves on her ceiling hazily. She yawned and instantly thought of what Lance was doing at this moment. Whether he was in bed in his wrinkled tank top sleeping, watching the peeling ceiling, or whether he was thinking of her. It sent a warm shiver down her spine and into her stomach, where butterflies had been accumulating. She arched upwards, and giggled. She pulled down her shirt, which was riding over her stomach and pulled down her pastel pink short shorts, which she loved to sleep in. She HAD to stop thinking about him!

**asa me ga samete **

**massaki ni omoiukabu kimi no koto**

**I wake up in the morning and immediately I start to think of you**

She glided her way to the bathroom where she saw Amara and Jubilee giggling over something. She pushed through the door groggily but her eyes instantly widened as she saw Jubilee toying with her new bangs.

"When did you get that!"

"Amara just did it now!"

"To impress none other than Bobby" Amara winked.

"Nah, i just wanted him to notice" said Jubilee quietly while the others nudged her playfully.

**omoikitte maegami wo kitta**

**"doushita no?" tte kikaretakute**

**I decided to cut my bangs just to hear you say, "What happened?"**

Suddenly the doorbell rang, echoing in the mostly quiet halls of the mansion. No one else was really up except for Logan who pulled open the door and found himself looking up at the tall Junior who called himself Kitty's boyfriend. He wasn't a bad kid, it was just that sometimes...

"Oh, hello...Mr. Logan" he stuttered.

"Hey kid, you here to see Kitty?" Logan said tiredly.

"Yea" Lance brightened at the fact there was no hostility in Logan's voice.

"I'll call her, you can wait here or come with me."

"Ummm...I'll go with you."

"Suit yourself." Logan said ominously.

"KITTY!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. He heard a series of yelps from the bathroom and knocked on the door. Kitty's skinny face appeared at the door, an excited Jubilee and Amara behind her.

"Woah! Kid! What happened to your hair?"

"Nothing...when you say it like that" she said, glaring at Amara.

"Lance!" Kitty pushed the door shut as she noticed the baggy teenager looming behind Logan, eager to catch a glimpse of her.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL, I'm like...PRESENTABLE!" she yelled through the door. She looked towards Amara and Jubilee who nodded, opened, and closed the door behind them. They came back a few minutes later armed with shampoo bottles, a pink mini-skirt and matching tanktop, some sandals, and a few hair ties.

**PINKU no SUKAATO ohana no kamikazari**

**A pink skirt, and a flower barette **

Logan sighed and walked away. Lance, unsure of where to go, sat down on the floor in front of the bathroom and held his hands together as he leaned back against the wall. He heard the shower running and idle chatter amoung the girls. He blushed to think of Kitty taking a shower and shoved the thought from his mind. After five minutes the door eased open and with a pile of steam, stepped Kitty. She was barefoot so he could see her pink toenails and her smooth legs. He eased his view up to her face, taking in her outfit the whole way. He grinned when he saw a flower barrette in her hair.

"So are you taking me somewhere?"

"Of course! Out for some breakfast?" he offered her his arm and waved goodbye to the other two girls. She took it giggling. Amara and Jubilee waved them off before turning back to Jube's hair.

Kitty spun in the air laughing.

"What?" Lance asked smiling like always.

"I'm so KAWAIIIII today!"

"Kawaii?"

"CUTE! Lance I'm so CUTE today!" she giggled again and stepped outside the mansion into the morning's cool light.

**sashite dekakeru no**

**kyou no watashi wa kawaii no yo!**

**It's time to go and I'm looking super cute today!**

Lance stopped in front of the mansion and ran his fingers through her ponytail and pulled her towards him gently, so he wouldn't hurt her. She leaned on his chest and heard his heart beat for a second before closing her eyes and smiling. After a minute she looked up at him and he looked down at her with his deep brown eyes. With his arm still around her, he led her to the worn-out Jeep.

**MERUTO tokete shimaisou**

**Melt - I'm about to melt**

"Tabby took it out for a joy-ride" he explained.

"Girl doesn't even BOTHER to fill up the tank either, or make it seem like she wasn't there." Lance sighed and jumped into the car to pop Kitty's door open. Kitty blushed and got into the car, still in a slight daze.

_Like...what's wrong with me? I can't even look at him_! She thought while blushing even deeper_. I mean...I can't love him! I can't! I didn't mean it those times...well, I did, but not like he probably feels for me. It's not like love is anything special...but_,

**suki da nante zettai ni ienai... dakedo**

**MERUTO me mo awaserarenai**

**koi ni koi nante shinai wa watashi**

**datte kimi no koto ga**…

**I can't tell you that I like you... but...**

**Melt - I can't let our eyes meet**

**I'm not into love and all that**

**But I do…**

She looked at his thin bangs in the wind and the way he looked at her now and then,

_Maybe... I do like him more than I thought. _

**...suki nano**

**... like you**

All of a sudden, they heard a peal of thunder break the sky open. They sky was a sea-green and the sun shone faded light throughout the world. Kitty recalled the first time her powers developed...in the thunder. She shuddered. Lance pulled into a IHOP's parking lot.

"Sorry, I was gonna take you somewhere more romantic...but the way you're dressed...I doubt we'll survive. He pulled his own hood onto his raggedy head while she climbed out of the car and skipped to the building. Once inside, the thunder truly split the sky open and let a fountian of crystal clear water slide down to the Earth in thick droves. They both looked out of the window at the bleary glass.

"Wow...this won't end soon."

Kitty shot him a look.

"Look, we'll eat and when we're done, let's see if it lets up any."

Kitty and Lance were the only ones in the resteraunt so they were pretty ignored. Kitty ordered strawberry waffles and Lance timidly ordered one pancake.

"Aren't you going to get more?"

"Nah, I'm not one for pancakes." He looked out the window again.

"The news said it would be sunny today!" Kitty whined, squeezing her arms in the aircontioned booth. They finished and paid and the rain showed no sign at all of stopping up. It was almost 11 o'clock.

**tenki yohou ga USO wo tsuita**

**doshaburi no ame ga furu**

**The weather report lied**

**It's pouring down**

She pulled out her purse and examined the thin, white and pink polka dotted umbrella she carried around. She sighed.

"This thing won't even be enough to cover me."

**kaban ni ireta mama no ORITATAMI kasa ureshikunai**

**tameiki wo tsuita sonna toki**

**My umbrella still folded in my bag won't do**

**So I gave a sigh**

"Wait at the door, I'll be right back" Lance breathed as he dashed out the door.

Kitty idled her way to the door and saw Lance appear, very damp but holding a wide black umbrella.

"I guess I'll have to let you under here." he teased, laughing at her gently.

Kitty teared up a little. Yes, she loved Lance...she knew now that after this moment, she would mean it.

**"shouganai kara haitte yaru" nante**

**tonari ni iru kimi ga warau**

**koi ni ochiru oto ga shita**

**"I guess I'll have to let you in"**

**Beside me you say, laughing**

**That was the sound that made me fall in love**

She slipped under the umbrella and stayed close to Lance so she could feel his warm skin and his delicious body heat. She held the umbrella with him, her hand touching his, hers now trembling. She felt her heart beat a little harder now and was glad the rain was so loud, so he wouldn't hear it.

**MERUTO iki ga tsumarisou**

**kimi ni fureteru migite ga furueru**

**takanaru mune hanbun kono kasa**

**Melt - I can hardly breathe**

**My hand, touching yours, is trembling**

**My heart is racing under this half of the umbrella**

"You ok?" he said, clasping her hand.

"Ye...ah..." she couldn't hold back the crazy grin. He smiled in understanding.

**te wo nobaseba todoku kyori doushiyou...!**

**omoi yo todoke kimi ni**

**If you should stretch out your hand to close the distance, what'll I do...?My feelings will reach you**

They were within sight of the movie theatre now, Lance had left his car in the IHOP parking lot and they had only walked a few blocks, although to her, her newly found feelings were taking her over. When he saved her, his tears in the bus, his past, when he smiled, when he fought with Scott...everything about him seemed so real, she actually had what she was looking for in other guys all along. The thought made her feel like crying and laughing. What if Lance was THE guy?

**onegai jikan wo tomete nakisou nano **

**demo ureshikute shinde shimau wa!**

**It's time to stop wishing, I feel like I'm gonna cry**

**And yet, I'm so happy I could die!**

They reached the movie theatre and she smiled through the whole movie. The rest of the day passed as a blur, she didn't remember all they talked about until they were in front of the X-mansion again.

**MERUTO eki ni tsuite shimau...**

**Melt - We've reached the station…**

She shot him a look. She wouldn't be able to see him again for a while.

**mou aenai chikakute tooi yo dakara**

**We can't see each other anymore, we're close yet so far away, so...**

She sighed and pouted, wondering if he would walk her through the door. When he made no sign of moving, she got out of the car and started walking through the heavy doors.

"Bye" she waved sadly at him when he yelled after her.

**MERUTO te wo tsunaide arukitai!**

**mou BAIBAI shinakucha ikenai no?**

**Melt - I want to walk hand in hand with you!**

**Must we say goodbye so soon?**

She turned around as he caught her in a thick embrace.

**ima sugu watashi wo dakishimete!**

**Hold me tight right away!**

"I had fun" he whispered in her ear.

"Me too," and in tune with her heart, "I love you."

**...nante ne**

**...or something**

**A/N: Did you read the lyrics? This is probably the only time I'll ask you…well…I will for all Vocaloid songs I do because they're SOOOO GOOD! Sorry I rushed it at the end, the song was kinda ending. I insist you look it up and listen to it! I thought it was just…perfect for these two. But as promised, next fic will be a Brotherhood pairing. Review please **


	5. World Is Mine, Tonda

**Sorry this one took so long, it's just been a lot of work, and I have a bunch of other fanfics I'm working on too. But this one…might be OCC…but I think it's kinda cute. The song is a mixture of three versions of the same one. One is Len Kagamine's Version, Kaito's Version, and one line is Miku's version of World is Mine (this is Vocaloid btw). Len's is bold, and Kaito's is bold and italics. It's basically a little Toad/ Wanda…**

Todd Tolansky rolled over in his bed, stretching his long limbs as he squeezed out of the blankets that had tightened themselves around his torso while he had slept. After several minutes of staring at the ceiling at the pictures of Wanda that he took with a disposable camera, he rolled onto the cold floor and breathed in deeply. His boxers hung loose on his waist and he knew he looked like he always did- a mess. However, as he passed his fingers through his tangled hair he made his way to the bathroom. He took showers once a week now for Wanda and today was the day.

He heard the shower running and knocked on the door. No one answered. He opened the door a crack and saw that Wanda's pajamas were strewn on the floor. He cracked a smile before closing the door. He wasn't going to risk being permanently killed, stumble into a hex, or lose her complete trust just to see her taking a shower. And besides, that wasn't what he wanted anyway. He knew that in his heart, she was a pure, innocent person...violent, reckless, angry, but he knew all she needed was pure respect and trust from someone. Something he intended to give her.

**The number one princess in the whole entire world**

**I know by heart how to treat you like that**

**Don't I?**

**Sekai de ichi-ban ohime sama**

**Souiu atsukai kokoro-ete iru**

**Daro**

He was sitting on the kitchen table, eating out of a carton cereal box. He loved the sugary sweetness that he could find in each plastic-tasting marhmallow, though not as much as the bugs he would often long for but couldn't snatch because Wanda was always too close.

Wanda entered the kitchen with a wet towel strung around her shoulders. Toad instantly caught onto something.

"Good morning Babycakes!" Toad said in his sugary voice.

"Mhm..." she replied.

_She actually acknowledged me!_ he thought.

"Hey, Wanda," she looked up at him from her bowl of dry cereal. He never really called her by her name, so when he did, it was either something very serious, or something equally stupid.

"Did you cut your hair? It looks a little shorter, and the red dye is toning down a little..."he blushed then and stammered, "but it looks nice!"

_Toad? Blushing? Wow, but he did notice..._

"Can I touch it?" he said, leaning forward

_**First off, by any chance, did you cut your hair? I hope you don't mind if I touch it a bit**_

_**sono ichi sou ieba kami kitta? sukoshi dake nadete yaru**_

"NO! Not until you drown in that shower!" with that she grabbed the milk and stormed out of the kitchen. Toad's eyes watered slightly as he thought of her rejection, but he quickly shook it off and leapt to the living room. Wanda was listening to some old records and eating her cereal neatly. Toad jumped in front of her.

"Need a foot rest?" he asked, bowing low in front of her.

"Umm...no...Toad, what is up with you today? Haven't you noticed I've been a lot nicer with you than usual? By this time any other day, you'd smell like a burnt frog." she said, crinkling her nose upwards.

"Sorry" he muttered, but instantly he brightened up and went on his knees in front of her.

**Second, I should bow down really low whenever I meet you**

**So sorry!**

**Sono-ni chanto kutsu made miruno wa****・・・**

**Gomen**

"Just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it! No matter what!" Wanda, out of her generous patience tapped Toad on his shoulder and sent him flying back into a lounge chair.

"Just stay over there. I'm not in the mood right now, or any day." she buried her face into one of her hands, holding the bowl in her other capriciously.

**Third, I will go along with every selfish desire you ask for with a pretty concise response**

**Sono-san omae no wagamama niwa futatsu henji de tsukiai masu yo**

"You done with that?"

"Aghhh..." she groaned. _Why did I have to get stuck with the one guy I kinda feel bad for?_

He snatched it from her and went to the kitchen to put it in the piling sink. It was Lance's turn, and even though he insisted every one do their own plates, no one ever did their plates except when it was Wanda who was going to be doing the dishes.

Wanda was still on the couch, looking gloomier than usual. Her right hand was still at her side and she clasped her head with her left, her rings burrowing into her thin forehead.

_**sore jaa hora migite ga aiten dakara te wo tsunagou ka**_

_**And look, since your right hand is empty, shall we hold hands?**_

She looked up and when she saw him she growled and stomped to her room, hexing him as she passed him, this time, back onto the couch.

Toad smiled dreamily at her unnatural gentleness before remembering that something was very wrong with Wanda. He hopped to her bedroom cautiously and knocked on the door. There was no answer. Toad leaned against the door and cracked it open. Wanda was on her thin bed, looking miserable, and Toad could almost make out a tiny track of warm tears along her chin.

She looked up and instantly saw him staring. She raised her hand and knocked him into the wall outside her door, sending plaster onto his dirty T-shirt and hair.

"Honeybuns? I just w-wanna talk"

"I have nothing to talk to you about Toad, so get lost, before I make you."

"Wanda, I know you're acting all tough to cover up something, but really, why do you have to do that? You're always cute to me, no matter what." Wanda growled at him.

_**sonna tsuyogatteru koto mo wakatteru sa**_

_**dakara shinpai sunna kyou mo kyou tote kawaii ne**_

_**I know that the things you do are just to make you look tough**_

_**So don't worry, you're as adorable as always, okay?**_

"Toad, what do you want from me! Do you NOT get that everything I do is to keep you away from me! You're disgusting, pitiful, and I HATE you! GET AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed the last part and as she did, cobalt blue light stemmed from her fingers and coursed through his body. He lay dejected, staring at her locked door. _What did she have to be so angry about? She was more defensive than _usual he thought.

She had just celebrated her birthday a few days ago, she had been happy with her gifts. Lance had given her a necklace with her initials on it, Fred had given her a gift card for his favorite restaurant, Pietro had given her a scrapbook of pictures of her favorite bands, all that he could gather, and Toad had searched around for a present...not finding a good one, he promised her gift later.

Toad was still lying on the floor when Pietro walked by wearing his long pajama pants and no shirt, in case a cute girl knocked on the door.

"Yo, Pietro, wattsup with Wanda?"

"How should I know?" Pietro retorted, a little more sore than usual.

"What's wrong with both of you actually?" Pietro had celebrated his birthday well. Lance had gotten him some socks to tease him, Fred had given him another gift card to his favorite restaurant, and Toad had given him a watch, so he could "time" how long it took for him to finish making out with a girl.

The two seemed genuinely pleased to the best of their abilities, but now, they both were glooming about, pouting and acting cold. Lance showed up in the door way from his room wearing his trademark blue boxers and a tight T-shirt showing how full and muscular he was.

"If you guys don't mind, KEEP THE HELL DOWN! WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU, I'M TALKING TO KITTY HERE! SHUT YA PIEHOLES, ESPECIALLY YOU TWO!" He slammed the door shut forcefully and left the two glaring at each other.

"What do you want with my sister anyway?"

"I happen to be in love with her you know. And when she's upset...I just want her to smile, more than anything. She'll never smile because I'm the one with her, by her side, protecting her, but I promise I'll stay by her side, even when she doesn't smile."

**The number one princess in the whole entire world**

**I promise I'll be by your side forever**

**So keep smiling**

**And if you ask me, we're one when we're together**

**I'll never leave you, princess**

**DAISUKI DAYO! (I love you!)**

**Sekai de ichi-ban ohime sama**

**Soba ni iru zutto na**

**Dakara zutto waratte te**

**Omae to ore wa futari de hitori**

**Hanareru koto**

**Shinai kara, nee, ohime-sama**

**Dai suki dayo**

Pietro rolled his eyes and left Toad on the floor. Wanda heard Toad's confession, and although he had said much cornier things, when he said it to someone other than her...it sounded much more authentic...real...as if he meant it.

"Wanda...princess? Come out? You can talk to me you know!" he yelled out. He half-hoped she had heard what he had said, so she would know that he was really serious.

Wanda opened the door a crack but slipped outside quickly, hexing the door behind her.

"I'm going out Toad."

"Where?"

"None of your business, now scram, and I better not have you following me!"

She jogged a good distance away from him and then stomped down the stairs, outside the door, slamming it behind her. Wanda always felt guilty for doing that, but she couldn't help it...the door was just...asking to be slammed.

Toad groaned, he was definitely going to follow her. He got up to do so, but he saw that Lance, Pietro, and Freddy were all standing in the hallway with him.

"What?"

"You really ought to give up on her Toad, and I'm not just saying that cuz I don't want to be your brother-in-law, cuz i really don't, it's just because she'll never love you, simple as that. Everyone seems to know it except for you." Pietro sneered.

"Dude, I mean...I guess I can kinda see what you see in her...but Gosh...I really don't like what I see." Lance thought aloud.

"Now wait here yo, don't nobody talk about her like that! I know she ain't perfect, but I treat her like she is, cuz she needs it! She complains everyday inside, and she takes it out on me, but I take it! I take it! And she never listens to Pietro either, so don't put your two cents in, you're under her control as much as any of us!"

_**A fault? She has countless!**_

_**I've never had a day where she says nothing**_

_**And she never really listens to her brother, ya know?**_

_**Ketten? kazoe kirenai hodo arushi**_

_**monku wo iwanai hi naishi**_

Freddy had been standing with his fingers crossed over each other the whole time, he was wearing his white boxers and an incredibly stretched undershirt.

"It's nice that you love her Toad."

"Thanks Freddy." And Toad really meant it.

"Now I'ma go get her a present, it looks like she needs it today."

He slouched to the end of the hall and slid down the stairs, leaving a small stain of slime.

"Oh that's nasty" Pietro crinkled his nose.

Toad ran to his room and threw on the cleanest clothes he could since his trademark smelled horrible even to him. He threw on a brown short sleeved-shirt and dark blue pants, ripped and baggy, and started up the stairs again.

"Hey...Lance..." Lance was waiting in front of the bathroom with a ragged yellow towel thrown over his broad brown shoulders.

"Could you drive me to the mall?"

"Nope"

"Oh Come ON! Don't make me hop all the way there!"

"Toad..." Lance groanded because he always softened when Toad was doing something for Wanda, knowing exactly how it felt to be rejected by someone, and knowing you're not good enough for them. He sighed, opened the door and confronted a screaming Pietro.

"LANCE! WHAT THE F-"

"Out please, I have a date with Kitty and I don't plan to be late because you need your 20 minute long showers!"

He thrust a naked Pietro into the hallway with a blue towel after him.

Toad shut his eyes quickly, sniggering. Pietro was dripping with his good looks and water and angrily thrust Toad out of the way to his room.

Five minutes later, Lance and Toad were sitting in Lance's jeep, the summer wind in their hair. After Lance had left Toad at the mall, Toad wandered from store to store. He finally came upon a store with relatively dark stuff, skulls at the windows and very dim lighting inside.

"What's a dress she would like...and look good in..." he looked over racks of ripped shirts and tight jeans so thickly chained they looked like they were going to jail.

_**souda, aitsu ga hoshigatteta fuku nan dattakke...**_

_**Hm, now which was that dress she wanted...?**_

He finally found a long dark red dress. It had a slip for her leg and it flowed down to the floor. He made his way to the cash register where a girl with flowing white hair and blue eyes, dressed all in white attended. He looked her over and muttered under his breath.

As he took the bag from her slender hands he looked out the display windows and saw Wanda sitting on a bench surrounded by overflowing potted trees. She was staring at the merry-go-round. Following a white horse and a beige horse that raced against each other around the tracks. A little girl with long black hair sat with her brother and her father. The brother and father were both a pale blonde, while the mother also had black hair like her beautiful daughter. Wanda sighed and kept watching the family until a new family took their place on the horses.

"Yo Wanda...wanna go on the merry-go-round?"

"TOAD?" she whirled around and saw he was holding a bag to one of her favorite stores in the mall.

"I mean, I'll go on with you if you want, so you wouldn't be alone?" he offered her his hand.

_**Wh-What? A white horse? If you insist...**_

_**Take my hand and we'll ride the merry-go-round**_

"I can't beleive you'd do that."

"I mean...I wouldn't! But because it's you, and you never really ask me for anything much...I just...give me something Wanda, ask me for something, help me out sometimes!" He then grabbed her hand and pulled her to the front gate. He bought two flimsy green tickets and then led her to the beige horse.

**hottoke yo damattero ****「****ohime-sama**

**wa sa**

**betsuni wagamama datowa omowa nai keredo**

**dakedo tama niwa ore nimo yasashiku narimasen ka****？**

**I'd never say that.**

**After all, you're the princess.**

**I really don't think you're selfish,**

**But can't you lend me a hand sometimes?**

"Unless you want the white one?"

"No...I prefer to have my knight on the white one...That being said...Toad, sit over THERE." she pointed to a brown one a few horses back.

"No way!" He hopped onto the white horse happily and grinned a yellow grin at her. She rolled her eyes and looked at the kids around her who were looking at her oddly, she suddenly became sad...

"Hey, Wanda, they're just kids, don't worry about it. I'm your...prince...your anything that you want me to be!" The merry go round started creakily.

"My dad used to take me here." she said shortly

"Oh?"

"Yeah...I don't really remember it, but...it must have happened...they must have built this mall around it or something."

"Wanda...I know that you know that you're the most precious thing I got in this life, and because of that, I really wanna be there for you."

Wanda stayed quiet and tried to act like she didn't know him.

"But...would you rather know the truth, or be happy?"

"What?"

"Look, Wanda, no matter what happens...I love you, Pietro loves you, heck...maybe even your old man loves you. Just want you to know that..."

_**I'm your prince, and yours alone**_

**You're more precious to me than anybody else**

**I'll be the one to hold your hand.**

_**You really are loved**_

_**I do believe that someday you'll realize this**_

_**sekai de omae dake no oujisama**_

**dare yori mo daiji dayo**

**sono tewo nigiru nowa**

_**kore dake aisareteru omae nara**_

_**itsuka wa hora kigatsuku to shinjiteru**_

"Whatever Toad" the ride came to a halt as the little children flew off their seats or waited for their parents to unhitch them. Toad looked at Wanda watching them blissfully and decided to hold it in for a while, letting her keep this illusion of happiness a tiny bit longer till he couldn't keep it in.

They also slid off their horses and walked silently together to the exit. Wanda looked at a mother holding two toddlers in her arms. One was a large girl of around three with her hair pulled back out of her face. The other was another little girl of two with black hair that curled around her ears. Wanda's eyes turned glassy before they narrowed and stomped off, leaving Toad behind.

"Wanda!" he yelled after her, but she didn't look back.

_**"kimi" no koto subete wakattenai wakari wa shinai**_

_**I don't yet understand everything about you, and I don't think I ever will**_

Lance pulled back up to the mall after catching a movie with Kitty. He was smiling proudly as he pulled his flip phone out to call Toad. He noticed Toad was already outside, inhaling the cigarette smoke that middle-aged men filled their empty desires with. Toad spotted him with his yellow-brown eyes and hopped into the jeep.

"Yo Lance...can we just drive home?"

"No where else I'm going with you." noticing Toad's lack of energy, he added,

"did you get something for Wanda?" Toad nodded and sank back into the seat drowsily.

"Dude, you ok?"

"You remember the first thing we agreed on Lance?"

"Uhhh...no..."

"We agreed that Pietro was the enemy, he's a wise-ass, a smart-aleck, the princess."

"Oh..." Lance chuckled, "yea, I remember that day."

"Well, remember when we met Wanda?"

"Toad...Wanda is something totally different from her brother."

"Is she? Do you think yo?"

"Yeah, everything about her is just...dynamically different from that D-bag,"

"Lance...ya think that memories are important too?"

Lance, not being the dullest tool in the shed picked on to what Toad was going to do.

"Yeah, yeah, they're important, but Toad..." he glanced at the poor child in the seat next to him, thinking about the one person in his life he really cared for.

"It's just that I don't want her to feel like this, I don't want to feel like I'm keeping something from this. I got morals yo...even if I don't show them."

"Well, those memories that got taken away...they didn't concern you."

"Yeah, but they're HER memories, I want her to be happy, but not like this. This isn't honest happiness. I won't forget what she said and what she's been through..."

**saisho ni utatta uta wa nanda?**

**Ok, Pietro wa teki datta yona**

**zenbu zenbu wasure masen**

**ohime-sama tono omoide dashi sa**

**Remember the first song we sang together?**

**OK. "Pietro is the enemy, right?"**

**Nothing, nothing. I'll never forget anything**

**Those are the memories with my princess**

Lance stayed quiet as they pulled in front of the house. The quiet inside either meant that Wanda was home or it had been abandoned. Sure enough, they saw her coat hanging in the hook by the door.

Toad walked up the stairs carefully, breathing in as much air as he could before he knocked on Wanda's heavily secured door. She opened it wearily.

_**kore bakkari wa tameiki da**_

_**With this I can breathe a sigh of relief**_

"Wanda, can I talk to you?" she opened the door wider and motioned for him to come in.

"Ok, look, Wanda-"

"Toad, in case you were wondering, today's the day my mom left me and Pietro allright? That's why today, I really don't want to fight with you. I don't have the will to."

"Left you?"

"When we were babies, just after she had us...she ran away...hoping to protect us from Magneto or something."

"Oh..."

"I just wanted to let you know, so next time you'd stay out of my business! Now why'd you want to talk to me?" she returned to her annoyed, protective self.

Toad sat down at the edge of her bed, holding her present precariously in his calloused hands.

"Wanda...would you hate me if I was honest with you?"

"I hate you already."

"Wanda, I'm being serious. I want to be honest with you!"

"Then go ahead."

"Before I do, I just want to tell you how much...I've come to love you now, especially now..."

"Cut the crap bug-boy, I'm losing patience."

"And I just want you to know," he hurried "that you can be who you want to be, and not who someone else wanted you to be, or made you be."

_**Sou da omae wa yareba dekiru**_

_**dakara kakugo shite oku yo**_

_**Yes, you can do whatever you put your mind to**_

_**So I'm prepared**_

He then told Wanda about when she was little, the asylum, Magneto's betrayal, Pietro's loyalty, and her kidnapping. He expected Wanda to lose her temper halfway through, but instead, he saw something change in her eyes.

_**Touzen desu! datte watashi wa**_

_**Sure thing because I'm-**_

"Wanda?" he reached out and grabbed her hand.

"I'm sorry! But...I just wanted to hold you, I know it's a lot and stuff-" he stopped as she said nothing but squeezed back gently.

**The number one princess in the whole entire world**

**I'll keep watching you, so stay as you are.**

**Suddenly, I reached out with my right hand and squeezed.**

**"I just wanted to hold it, that's all."**

**And when she presses back...**

**My princess is certainly the best!**

**Sekai de ichiban ohime sama**

**Chanto miteru kara**

**Sono mama de te baii**

**Fui ni no bashita mi gite**

**Kyu ni gyutto sa!**

**˹nigatte mitakatta dake˼**

**So iu to nigiri kae sareta**

**Yappa ohime-sama ga ichiban**

**A/N: That was odd wasn't it…ah well, it's been a while, so lets see how my hardwork paid off :) I hope ya'll liked it. **


	6. Goodbye

**A/N: This isn't an explicit Tabitiero thing, but it has a lot, especially on Pietro's side. So, for background on her parent's names—Jim is one of her creators, so it's her dad's name, and Megan is the first name of the woman who voiced her in Evo. So, I hope you like it, I have the lyrics at the end this time, which you should read, or listen to, because it's a wonderful song about love. I hope you enjoy!**

**Goodbye's the Saddest Word by Celine Dion- Tabitiero **

Tabitha Smith leaned back in her chair, feet propped onto the wide art table. She was chewing a thick wad of gum, her hair was cropped to her ears, her makeup was thick and provocative, and her yellow vest, tight blue jeans, and large brown boots completed her signature rebellious look. All together, she looked very dangerous.

There was no one in the room, since class didn't start for another five minutes. She didn't care though; she didn't have much to do in her free periods anyway. Homework? Not a chance!

She put her music as loud as she could and closed her eyes to imagine herself on stage, rocking with the hot boy bands from the oldies. Her mother had loved this type of music. Tabitha's eyes fluttered open at the thought of her mother, slightly disturbed. Not that she hated her mother, but still, she didn't like to think of her. She shook off the feeling and was about to continue her daydream when she saw Pietro sitting next to her.

"WOAH!" she tipped the chair back and barely managed to regain her balance.

"Smooth one Boom Boom." Her face remained rigid around him, even in the face of his sarcasm. But even she plastered one of her most prized sneers at him, signaling a taunting match in the making. She loved those matches with him.

"What do you want Speedy?" she threw in a sarcastic nickname of her own.

"I switched classes-third trimester of senior year has benefits like that." He shrugged casually.

"I decided going to an art class would be pretty exciting, especially since you're here." He eased closer to her, causing her to roll her blue eyes at him.

"I'm sure that was the reason" she scoffed, but she relaxed and turned towards him. If he knew she had a crush on him, he would say things like that MUCH more often. They had an easy, playful conversation until the class started filing in. Most of the class sat on the other side of the large classroom though.

"Ummm..." Pietro looked at the mixture of students across from him.

"You get used to it. I don't have any friends in this class, which totally SUCKS, but now that you're here, I'm sure things will get a lot more exciting." They both grinned mischievously.

The teacher walked in holding a disarray of pens and notepads.

"Sorry I'm late" he apologized as he set everything down carefully. He pushed his glasses farther up the bridge of his noise. His nervous voice wavered as he introduced the new student.

"Class, this is Pietro Maximoff, he will, uh, be s-staying with us for the remainder of the school year. Pietro," he turned to him and adjusted his messy collar, "I hope you'll like it in Drawing 1. Now everyone, today's a free, uh, free sketch day! Have fun with it!" his voice gained a little more confidence when he was talking about the art he was so passionate about.

"He's an absolute love!" Tabitha whispered.

"And, if he took off those glasses and did something about his clothes, he'd be pretty fine." This was something she whispered louder, causing the young teacher to turn a shade of light pink beneath his freckles, and on his ears, accenting his curly red hair.

Tabitha giggled and turned to Pietro, who was glowering a bit at the teacher, who was indeed attractive.

"Matthew, I'm going to the bathroom allright!" the teacher nodded, still trying to cool down his terrible blush. Pietro looked around at the other kids and took out a piece of paper. He wasn't much an artist...but at least in this class, he could have his dear Tabitha...alllll to himself.

Tabitha made her way to the ladies room, kicking open the heavy door with her wide hips. Inside were Amara and Jubilee.

"Cutting class?" Tabitha smiled mischievously.

"No!" they answered in unison, causing them all to smile genuinely.

"Free period then?" Tabitha guessed. The other girls nodded together.

"Ah, you guys have all the luck." Tabitha grinned this time as she went into a stall. A few seconds later,

"OH DAMN! Do any of you happen to have like...a tampon or something on you!" Tabitha called over the stall door. Jubilee giggled at Tabitha's usual behavior-always having what she wanted and never what she needed.

Jubilee took a pad from her purse and slipped it underneath the stall. Amara and Jubilee both rolled their eyes at the same time. Same old Tabitha of course.

After 10 minutes of hanging in the bathroom, Tabitha decided to head back. She really did love her teacher, with his nervous ways. It made her feel powerful and vulnerable at the same time. He was so sweet she didn't feel like missing another moment of tormenting him. As the three girls made their way back to the art classroom, a skinny, and pale woman with thin blonde hair, who they knew worked in the office, came up to them breathless.

"Tabitha Smith!" she called out to them. They stopped in their tracks. She looked wild with her hair in thin wisps of disarray, her cheeks filled with a solid pink flush.

"It's your mother. She's in the hospital." She rushed the words out all at once.

"Mamma?" Tabitha didn't think she heard right.

Her mother? Her mother, the one that gave her everything? No...not her mother. _She was supposed to be ok!_ _The doctor said she'd be fine!_

Tabitha's voice broke as she asked,

"Is she alright?" The woman hesitated before shaking her head. She really dind't know.

Tabitha clutched her shirt, willing the tears not to spill from her broken heart. She turned to Amara and Jubilee and patted them on their heads.

"It's allright. You know me, I'll pull out of it the way I always do." She said confidently. The other girls started to protest but Tabitha had sped off to her classroom. They stood watching her, and they held each other's hands sadly.

Jubilee never had a mother to begin with-moving from foster home to foster home. Amara's mother was miles away in Brazil. Both knew that you could search all around the world for something as special as a mother's love, and you wouldn't find it. They knew Tabitha knew it too, as they saw her shoulders shake with fear at the woman's words.

Tabitha burst into the classroom. Matthew leaned over Pietro, suggesting lightly to him that school would not be the perfect place to doodle women in...less than presentable clothing. Tabitha pushed Pietro away from her art stool so she could grab her worn green bag.

"I heard about your mother Tabitha. They called the classroom to ask for you." Matthew spoke the words directly at her, not faltering at her name as he usually did. Pietro took a glance up before continuing with his sketch, ignoring the rest of the conversation. With his powers he had been able to make a stack of papers of Greek Goddesses, models, and even a few of his favorite supervillanesses. He moved on to a next sheet of paper and was about to pluck it before he noticed that a drop of water clung onto Tabitha's eyelash. It was a tear! She turned to leave hurriedly.

"Boom Boom? What's wrong?" his stormy eyes were serious. She brushed him off irritably and ran out of the room, practically in sobs.

Pietro sped after her, leaving the room in an uncomfortable silence. Matthew turned to the class, who looked up at him with alert eyes and ears. He made a sweep across the room with his own green eyes before speaking.

"T-Tabitha's mother...is in the hospital, her condition is unknown." he almost whispered the last word. The room's whispering fell for a moment. They looked at their papers and then at each other, all vowing they wouldn't avoid Tabitha anymore. This transcended her abilities and powers, her mutation. This was something different, something they all prayed would never happen to anyone so young.

"Tabby? Where DID you go?" Pietro mumbled the last part as he sped through the school, looking for Tabitha, whom he had lost sight of a short while after leaving the classroom. His shoulders dropped under his grey shirt and he turned to go back to the room when he heard a stifled cry. He looked to where the cry seemed to be coming from-a water fountain. He peered underneath it in horror, to see Tabitha, her mascara running and her nose stuffy, her artificial beauty being washed away in the salt water that salivated down her cheeks.

"P-Pietro!" she wiped away her tears quickly with her red-nail polished fingers.

"Tabitha...schooch over." he grumbled, not believing he was actually gonna sit down on the floor, in his newest pair of jeans, though he shook this thought away quickly, this was Tabitha after all.

"You-ok?" he murmured as he sat down.

"Yea...I'm ok..." one look at his disbelieving face and she changed her answer.

"As in...no...not really." Tabitha sniffled.

"You're going to visit her?" Tabitha shook her head, no.

"Why!" Pietro tried to keep his voice down, and even though he had never really had a relative in the hospital, he knew he'd want to be there as soon as he could, especially if it was Wanda or something.

"I don't know how to get there fast enough. I don't have too much money."

"How about the X-Jet? Aren't you an X-Geek?" he suggested lightly.

"The X-Jet! Pietro!" She hugged him tightly.

"Thank you! I never would've thought of that! Come on!" She grabbed his sleeve and tugged him the entire way to the X-mansion, disregarding their lockers, the fact they had class, or even that Pietro wasn't an X-Men.

When they reached the mansion's large metal gates, Tabitha's hope dissipated a bit.

"Mamma..." she sighed a bit. Pietro, who had seen how desperately she had run to the manor-over cars, almost into speeding cars, and never stopping for respite, took her into his arms quickly before pushing her away.

"Tabby, don't worry about a thing. I mean it, she'll be fine."

"But what if this is the last time-"

"No, this is not the last time. Now come on, no more thinking, let's get that X-Jet"

Five minutes, one confrontation with one Wolverine, one explanation to a Professor, and one hug from a weather witch later, and they were off on their way to Virginia.

****

"Daddy!" Tabitha angrily turned away from her father as soon as she walked through the door of her mother's room.

"Yea? She's my wife too ya know."

"Yea? Well it's easy to forget sometimes, and that's EX-wife to you!" She retorted.

"Tabitha! Jim! Please!" A frail woman with pale black hair and clear blue eyes frowned but she held her needle covered arms out to her daughter.

"Mamma!" she rushed into her mother's awaiting arms.

"Tabitha. I'm sorry we didn't meet again under...better circumstances."

"What was it mamma? What did this to you?" The woman almost cried from relief, she had been so terrible to her only child.

"A stroke sweetie..." she looked around her daughter's shoulders to see Pietro, nervous and fidgeting with his hair.

"Who's this?" Her father also turned to look at the handsome boy she brought in tow.

"I'm Pietro…Tabitha's friend." he added bluntly.

"Friend..." her dad snorted. At that moment, a nurse came in.

"Mr. Smith? Tabitha and..." she looked at Pietro's shocking white hair before moving down his face.

"Pietro Maximoff." Pietro replied.

"Are you family?" she fixed her outfit, for a teenager, he was pretty attractive.

"No."

"Then you may stay here, this is for family members only." She motioned for the two blondes to come with her.

Tabitha looked back at Pietro as she and her dad walked out of the room.

Pietro sat awkwardly in a green chair across from Mrs. Smith's bed.

"Pietro?"

"Yes?" he cocked his head up quickly.

"Has Tabitha been a good girl?" Pietro almost snickered. Of course Tabitha was the opposite of good, but to please the sick woman, he answered politely instead in the positive.

"That's good. You know she's a mutant right?" she said in a warning tone.

"Of course" Anyone who lived with her for more than a day would know, she couldn't STOP using her powers.

"Oh." That came as a relief to the broken woman.

"When she came home one day...and we found her making those cherry bombs...we were heartbroken. We fell apart for a bit, and I sent her to the Xavier Institute, hoping...if she would be a mutant, she would at least fall on the good side-she's a bit, rebellious. I didn't trust her with those powers..." Her voice faded and Pietro could tell from the empty look in her eyes that she was reliving everything. He smiled though—he wasn't evil, but he certainly used his powers for worse things than Tabitha.

"Are you a mutant?" She asked at last.

"Yes." She kept quiet after that, but with an expecting air. He sighed and pushed back his white hair.

"I can run...fast."

"That sounds like a beautiful ability." _Beautiful? _No one had ever called his power beautiful.

"Do you have a mother?" Pietro leaned back in his chair. _This woman was as nosy as_ _Tabitha_ he snorted.

"She left us when we were still babies. My dad's a supervillan, who'd want to stick around with HIS kids."

"Oh." Pietro stole a glance at her again. She didn't seem the least bit surprised.

"Are you sure that's the reason?"

He kept his gaze level with hers,

"Yea, that's the reason," he said bitterly.

"Hmmm...my ex-husband is certainly not the model of a good member of society...but...I love Tabitha so much. Whenever I lose hope...about this battle...I remember that I have a wonderful daughter, even if she is a bit, exciting sometimes..." She giggled, life swelling into her eyes.

"Oh yeah, she's thrilling." He added, not exactly sarcastically.

"How long have you known her?"

"Few years I guess."

"Do you like her?"

"It's hard to not like her" he smirked. He continued,

"She MAKES you like her, something dangerous about her." he smiled.

"She lived with us for a while; we really got to know her. I kinda like feisty girls like her." he joked.

However, as a mother, she could tell when someone was being sincere.

"She's pretty daring, funny, definitely my rival in sarcasm," he continued, telling her mother all about the girl she had dropped off in the Xavier's Institute almost three years ago.

"Do you love her?" Pietro froze, wondering what to tell the woman who lay in her bed, her eyes so much like Tabitha's, so eager and full of life, despite her dark fore-telling appearance. What a sudden question.

"Ummm..." Pietro couldn't think of words to say, he sighed and zoomed to the window instead, trying not to look at the poor mother's reflection in the window.

"Well, _I_ love her, that's for sure. My own mother told me that I would never love anything more than my child. Now, all I want for her...is to find something to love too."

"She loves a lot of things." Pietro called back.

"She has a lot of friends, interests, you-name-it-she-loves-it."

"I meant a boy, someone like you. Though of course, it doesn't HAVE to be you. Just, someone for her to lean on, when I'm gone."

Pietro looked out the window to the wide sky, wondering if, his mother...was out there, and thinking about him.

"Ma'am?" The word tasted funny, but he couldn't think of another thing to call her.

"I'm going to go back to Bayville, tell Tabitha, alright?"

"Going so fast though?" Pietro had to stop his smirk again-he wasn't sure if she meant to make that pun or not.

"I shouldn't be here. Tabitha shouldn't worry about me, she should focus on you."

"Sweet boy." Pietro grimaced; he was anything BUT sweet. She should have tried words like stingy, sour, and even heartless.

"Oh, and Ma'am? Maybe I'll get Dr. Xavier or something, to call some doctors. Heck, I'll even ask my DAD for some money for doctors if you need it. Tabitha really needs you." This was probably the most concerned he ever was, for anyone except his sister.

Megan Smith raised her arms toward him as well. She whispered in his ear when he leaned into her, "You know, one day I hope I get to call you my son." She patted him on the back as he slid away, a thick red blush fighting to cool down on his own cheeks.

"Until we meet again then." She smiled at him.

He winked, smiling and said,

"Of course! See you later then!"

And he felt the ache in his heart. The woman had stirred something in him, that made his feelings for Tabitha want to expand even more, and he wished with all his heart could muster, that-Tabitha's mom would get better, and that maybe he'd find his own mom one day.

A/N: Hi, it's the author again…So, yeah, sorry it's not so Tabitiero, but I thought it was sweet, tried to keep them in character as best I could, and since we never really meet her mom, I tried to make her unique. :) HERE ARE THE LYRICS, and actually check out this song.

_Mamma_

_You gave life to me_

_Turned a baby into a lady_

_Mamma_

_All you had to offer_

_Was the promise of a lifetime of love_

_Now I know_

_There is no other_

_Love like a mother's love for her child_

_And I know_

_A love so complete_

_Someday must leave_

_Must say goodbye_

_Goodbye's the saddest word I'll ever hear_

_Goodbye's the last time I will hold you near_

_Someday you'll say that word and I will cry_

_It'll break my heart to hear you say goodbye_

_Mamma_

_You gave love to me_

_Turned a young one into a woman_

_Mamma_

_All I ever needed_

_Was a guarantee of you loving me_

_'Cause I know_

_There is no other_

_Love like a mother's love for her child_

_And it hurts so_

_That something so strong_

_Someday will be gone, must say goodbye_

_Goodbye's the saddest word I'll ever hear_

_Goodbye's the last time I will hold you near_

_Someday you'll say that word and I will cry_

_It'll break my heart to hear you say goodbye_

_But the love you gave me will always live_

_You'll always be there every time I fall_

_You are to me the greatest love of all_

_You take my weakness and you make me strong_

_And I will always love you 'til forever comes_

_And when you need me_

_I'll be there for you always_

_I'll be there your whole life through_

_I'll be there this I promise you, Mamma_

_Mamma, I'll be_

_I'll be your beacon through the darkest nights_

_I'll be the wings that guide your broken flight_

_I'll be your shelter through the raging storm_

_And I will love you 'till forever comes_

_Goodbye's the saddest word I'll ever hear_

_Goodbye's the last time I will hold you near_

_Someday you'll say that word and I will cry_

_It'll break my heart to hear you say goodbye_

_'Till we meet again..._

_Until then..._

_Goodbye _


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